Placket-closure.



No. 674,474. Patented May 2|, l9-0I. H. D. SCHUTTE & G. SAENGER.

PLAGKET CLOSURE.

(Application filed Fab. 4, 19Q1.) (No Model.)

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UNITE STATES PATENT EETcE,

HENRY D. SCHUTTE AND GUSTAV SAENGER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PLACKET-CLOSURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 674,474. dated y 1901- Application filed F ruary 4:, 1901. Serial No. 45,831. \No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HENRY D. SCHUTTE and GUSTAV SAENGER, citizens of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Placket-Olosers, of which the following is a full and complete specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to devices for closing the placket-opening of a skirt; and one object thereof is to provide an improved device of this class which will securely close said opening at all times and by means of which the skirt may be held to the Waist and the belt held in proper relative position, a fur ther object being to provide a device of the class specified with means for suspending the skirt from a hook or other support; and with these and other objects in view the invention consists in a placket-opening-closing device constructed as hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which the separate parts of our improvement are designated by the same reference characters in each of the views, and in which- Figure 1 is a back view of the upper portion of a skirt provided with the usual placketopening and our improved means for closing the same; Fig. 2, a perspective back view of the closing device detached and ready for use; and Fig. 3, a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the two steels from which the placket-openingclosing device is made.

In the drawings forming part of this specification we have shown at 5 the upper portion of a skirt provided with the usual placketopening 6, and in the practice of our invention we provide a closure device comprising two flat spring-steels '7 and 8, one of which is much wider than the other and which are pivotally connected at one corner, as shown at 9, the narrower steel being on the inner side, and the upper ends of said steel are curved inwardly slightly, so as to conform with the shape of the body below the waist, as clearly shown at 10.

The steels 7 and 8 are provided in practice with a fabric covering, as shown at 11 in Fig. 2, and said steels are also preferably provided along the edges with holes or openings 12, by means of which the covering is secured thereto.

- Secured to the outer and wider steel '7 and to the inner side of the upper end thereof is a hook 13, which is connected therewith by means of a rivet, as indicated at 14:, and secured to the back of the upper end of the narrower steel 18 is a similar hook 15. In practice the hook 15, connected with the inner narrower steel 18, is connected with the waistband, so as to hold the waist down or hold the skirt up, and the hook 13 engages with the belt and holds the belt in proper relative position, so as to cover the junction between the waist and skirt. Each of the steels Z and 8 is also provided at its upper end with a flexible loop 16, which is secured to the covering thereof and by means of which the skirt may be suspended from any suitable support, and in practice the said steels 7 and S, inclosed in the flexible covering 11, are secured to the skirt at the opposite sides of the placket-opening, the pivotal connection thereof at 9 being'below said placket-opening, as clearly indicated in Fig. l.

-We are aware that straight steels of the same wid th have heretofore been used for the same purpose; but in all such cases the said steels have been of the same Width, and when the skirt was drawn to one side or when the wearer of the skirt would sit down the skirt would bulge and open at the placket-opening; but with our improved placket-openingclosing device, one of the steels being much wider than the other, the said placket-open-' ing will remain closed under all conditions and in all circumstances, regardless of the position in which the skirt be held, and our improved placket-opening-closing device also serves as means for connecting the skirt with the waist and for suspending the skirt.

It will be understood that the ends of the waistband at the back are connected in the usual manner, and when so connected one of the springs or steels overlaps the other, the wider spring or steel being preferably on the outer side, and this securely closes the placket-opening at all times. It will also be understood that while we have described the parts '7 and 8 as steels the same may be composed of rubber, whalebone, or any other suitable material.

Having fullydescribed our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is'

l. A placket-opening-closing device comprising two flat spring-steels, one of which is wider than the other, said steels being pivotally connected at their lower ends adjacent to one cornerof the wider steel, and the upper ends thereof being bent inwardly, said steels being also provided at their upper en ds, each with a hook, one of which is longer than the other, one of said hooks being adapted to engage the waist and the other the belt, sub stantially as shown and described. I

2. A placket-opening-closing device comprising two flat spring-steels, one of which is wider than the other, said steels being pivotally connected at their lower ends and adjacent to the outer corner of the wider steel, the upper ends of said steel being curved inwardly, each of said steels being also provided at its upper end with a hook, one of which is adapted to engage the waist and the other the belt, and said steels being also each provided at its upper end with a flexible loop, substantially as shown and described.

3. An improved placket-opening-closing device, comprising twoflat spring-steels, one of which is wider than the other, said steels being pivotally connected at their lower ends and adjacent to the outer corner of the wider steel, and the upper ends thereof being curved inwardly, said steels being also rovided with a flexible covering, and each being provided at its upper end with a hook and a flexible loop, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that we'claim the foregoing as our invention We have signed our names, in presence of the subscribing witnesses, this 1st day of February, 1901.

HENRY D. SOHUTTE. GUSTAV SAENGER.

Witnesses:

F. A. STEWART, M. K. Lownnnn. 

